Cade Smith’s numbers in 2026 speak for themselves. The Cleveland Guardians closer saved 41 games, posted a 1.95 ERA, made the All-MLB Second Team and finished second in the AL Reliever of the Year voting. What makes him special, according to the people who see him every day, is the work that never shows up in a box score. In a new story from The Athletic’s Zack Meisel, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti shared one moment from October that summed up his closer perfectly. With most of the roster worn down, Antonetti found Smith in the weight room right after he closed out a game, “getting in a postgame lift.”
“Antonetti recalled a day during the Guardians’ postseason run when players were dragging, and many eased their routines to account for the wear and tear of a long season and the constant playoff travel. Smith had just pitched the ninth inning, and Antonetti walked into the weight room, where the closer was getting in a postgame lift,” Meisel wrote.
That commitment is a big reason he was able to handle such an enormous workload. Smith pitched in 69 games during the regular season, leading Cleveland’s bullpen in appearances, innings, strikeouts and saves. In September, as the Guardians chased down the White Sox for the division, he appeared in 11 of the team’s 25 games and did not allow a single run. Opponents hit just .073 against him that month.
The workload only increased in October. Smith pitched in nine of Cleveland’s 11 postseason games, striking out 14 batters in 11 1/3 innings and holding opponents to a .105 average. That included a four-out save in Game 3 of the ALCS against Tampa Bay. General manager Mike Chernoff joked after the season that Smith might finally take a week off.
The work ethic matches his path to the majors. Smith grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and went undrafted out of the University of Hawaii in 2020 when the draft was cut to five rounds. Cleveland signed him as a free agent that June. He was the last player to make the Opening Day roster in 2024, and he has not looked back. Smith has now topped 100 strikeouts in each of his first three seasons, joining Dick Radatz as the only pitchers ever to do that while working exclusively in relief.
At 27, Smith is entering his first year of arbitration and remains under team control through 2029. His raise is coming, and stories like this one show why the Guardians are happy to pay it. They have one of the best closers in baseball, and he still outworks his teammates.
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